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This study investigated the issue of collaboration in new product development within the context of the South African textile and clothing industry. The following aspects were analysed in order to contribute to the understanding of the collaboration process: the perceived benefits of collaboration in the new product development process, the risks of collaboration, the effect of collaboration on the new product development process, and the factors that increase the likelihood of a successful collaboration.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -This study aims to investigate the role of governance on knowledge acquisition and loss by new technology-based firms engaged in inter-firm collaborative new product development projects. Design/methodology/approach -This work draws on the relational exchange perspective, transaction cost theory and the resource-based view in order to develop hypotheses. Survey data collected from British new technology-based firms, operating in three industry sectors, was used to examine these hypotheses. Findings -Relational governance was found to have a positive relationship with the acquisition of knowledge-based resources. Increased comprehensiveness in the formal contractual governance structure was found to be associated with lower levels of harmful knowledge loss. Research limitations/implications -This study was conducted in one country. Future research should be done in different countries to determine the generalizability of the findings. Practical implications -Managers engaging in collaborative new product development projects need to develop both relational as well as formal contractual governance mechanisms, so that positive collaboration outcomes can be maximized, while negative outcomes are minimized. Originality/value -A review of the literature indicates that the study of the governance of short-term, focused inter-firm relationships has been neglected. Additionally, while there has been extensive examination of knowledge acquisition there has been much less exploration of knowledge loss within these inter-firm relationships. This study contributes to the literature by responding to this need.

In this paper we analyse the networks created from directors sitting on the boards of companies in South Africa. We consider two projections of this network: a director network, in which only directors are present and two directors are linked if they sit together on one or more common boards; and a firm network, in which only firms are present and an edge indicates that the two firms share one or more directors. We describe these networks in terms of the statistical properties that they possess, and compare them to theoretical values obtained under various random network models. The network analysis is the first to be applied to a relatively small emerging economy like South Africa. We find that many of the features previously found to hold for highly-developed countries also apply here, suggesting that corporate networks may be fairly robust to stages of economic development.

Almost twenty years after democracy we find growing economic activity in the informal sector. The spaza market in Khayelitsha 1 can be seen as an example of entrepreneurial activity offering an entry point to many that are excluded from mainstream economic activities. This study included 352 participants and is comprised of South African (locals) and Somali (foreigners) owned spaza shop entrepreneurs operating in Khayelitsha. In recent years foreigners have become a dominant force in this market often resulting in the closure of many local businesses. This has often given rise to xenophobic violence resulting in deaths of innocent persons. We focus on the role of culture on business practices and entrepreneurial orientation on business performance. Entrepreneurial orientation is used as a psychological concept to reflect on the level of entrepreneurial potential within the informal sector. Business practices include rudimentary financial management practices that provide a measure of financial stability of the business.